Last week (9 October) I stood for the first time in the City of London elections in Castle Baynard ward that stretches from Fleet Street to Blackfriars, taking in St Paul’s Cathedral.It was a 3-week whirlwind of a campaign. The by-election was called as one of the Common Councilmen in the ward was elected as an Alderman elsewhere and created a vacancy.There were 8 of us contesting one place.

My fascination with the City started way back when I landed my first real job as an articled clerk in the City firm of Norton Rose and then working as a solicitor involved in securitisation and cross border finance.My renewed interest in the City came about when I tried to get on the board of governors of my sons’ independent school.No parent governors there. It was all in the hands of the Worshipful Company of the Mercers.This then led me to investigate the intriguing world of Livery Companies, only to discover that membership of the Mercers was closed (at least to me).

I persisted in my enquiry and 6 years ago joined a newer and more welcoming livery company, that of the World Traders in the year that Mei Sim Lai OBE DL became Master, the first Master of Chinese heritage in the City’s 800 history!Yes that would be the livery company for me.

Most are familiar with the historical beginnings of London as a Roman walled city, and of theimportance of the square mile today, but very few know how it is governed.Of how, to be eligible to stand as one of 100 Common Councilman, you have first be admitted to the Freedom of the City.Or that the Lord Mayor who is elected by the Livery Companies each year to promote investment in the City has to be drawn from the 2 Sheriffs who, in turn, must have first served as an Alderman of one of the 25 wards.Or that, by convention, Party politics does not play a role in City elections.That is until recently, when Labour fielded candidates in the 2013 elections in a few wards where there were more residential voters.

So despite being a Liberal Democrat, I obediently shed my party colours and stood as an Independent, only to be trumped by the Labour candidate.But I have since been advised by others more experienced in the ways of the City of London Corporation, that come 2021, the Independents will triumph in the all-out elections.So watch this space, as they say.

* Merlene Emerson is is Vice-Chair of the Federal International Relations Committee and an executive member of Liberal International British Group. She is Co-founder of Chinese Liberal Democrats.

20 Comments

Whether we field candidates as independents or flying the party flag begs the question of whether LibDems even have a position on the City and its governance in the first place. Is the City better off the way it is currently governed by convention by professionals and corporations without interference from politicians, or should party politics be introduced?

The secondary question then is whether one would stand a better chance of getting elected as a LibDem or as an Independent. I understand that at the all-out elections (in 4 yearly cycles) the Independents tend to stand as a slate in each ward.

The City does need to be reformed so that it is less of an old boys’ network and be made more diverse and inclusive, but it would be easier to change things from the inside (imho).

Both our 2015 and 2017 manifestos identify the unbalanced economy as a major issue to be tackled. The money for the major infrastructure investments has to come from the City, so its governance is clearly a matter that concerns the Party even if it is not spelt out explicitly in the manifestos. I also question how independent these other ‘independents’ are; could they just be closet Tories?

Merlene – I love your passion for the city. BUT if we want to achieve Liberal Democrat progress, we should stand and campaign as Liberal Democrats. Labour seem to have abandoned these conventions in the city and it would appear that the voters quite like it. Why are we letting them have the monopoly? I hope you stand as a LibDem next time and win.

The City sounds less democratic than even Dick Whittington’s cat. It doesn’t have a state secondary school and only one state primary school. Time it was part of the GLC and contributing to London’s needs.

Time for a thorough democratic overhaul. Over to you, Joe B. Get in there with your LVT.

The City as it stands is an affront to Liberal & Democratic values, the rest of The UK got rid of Business Votes in 1951. Its no accident that so few real Voters live in the City, it was their policy to squeeze them out until recently.
What a Liberal Democrat Government would do with The City is a discussion for another day, the simplest solution would be to put it under the control of The GLA with an Elected commitee to represent the Voters who live there.
Our policy should be to stand everywher we can & always as ourselves.

I never failed to be impressed by the sheer energy of Merlene and hats off for taking a crack at breaching the edifice that is the City of London Corporation. She would make a great Alderman.
If the corporation is not yet ready for the whirlwind that is Merlene, there is always the Inns of Court. THE government of the Inns of Court is vested in the Benchers or ” Masters of the Bench.” The Masters are elected by the Bench of each Inn from among the members who have attained a certain standing in their profession.The inner temple or middle temple are extra-parochial areas and open to solicitors transferring to the Bar.

Because of its accumulated wealth and responsibilities the City of London Corporation has a number of officers and officials unique to its structure who enjoy more autonomy than most local council officials, and each of whom has a separate budget. The City Surveyor, provides guidance to combine the fund management of a major central London commercial property portfolio extending to over 16 million square feet of space, with the management of the City’s 600 operational properties stretching across Greater London, including Guildhall, The Mansion House, and Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey). A perfect place to demonstrate the benefits of Land Value Capture for the public benefit.

Hi Merlene.
Well done for trying to break through in the City both as a Chinese woman and as a Democrat. As a Green I find the City un-democratic and anti- environment a very toxic combination. So keep persevering and I hope that you can bring a bit of much needed transparency and care for the environment to the City. Good luck.

@Paul Barker
‘the rest of The UK got rid of Business Votes in 1951.’
Ahem! The rest of GB. The reform, which also extended the franchise to all adults from householders and business owners only, didn’t come in Northern Ireland until nearly 1970. This is of historic importance, as its delay (which tended to favour the Unionists – protestants tending to have smaller households and more likely to own businesses) led to the demonstrations in the late 1960s and the reactions to them, which in turn led to the Troubles.

I stood in a by-election for my village parish council as a Liberal Democrat. I believe it was the first time ever someone stood on a party political label. I also got criticised in the local press by the chair – who also happened to be the chair of the local Conservative association! So I am strongly in favour of people standing under a party label. And I believe even at parish council level I bring a Lib Dem approach to things.

But… one should realise @Peter Kemp and @Tim Hill that there are councils – parish and also some higher tier councils where the tradition is that people do not stand on party labels or many stand as independents and we should respect that and it is certainly not misleading.

@ Michael 1 “some higher tier councils where the tradition is that people do not stand on party labels or many stand as independents and we should respect that and it is certainly not misleading.”

It most certainly is misleading. I know of a District Council where there is such a thing as an ‘Independent Group’.There are other Councils where the power (and I suspect this in the City of London) where power resides in a certain all male Lodge. Democracy demands transparency not camouflage.

Merlene’s post would have benedifed by the inclusion of the election result but her experience recalls the parliamentary by-election in the Cities of London and Westminster aeons ago in November 1965 for which I was the agent and Stephen Jakobi was the Liberal candidate. It was a bizarre constituency including Belgavia, Buckingham Palace and Soho doss houses. We had immense difficult in creating any Liberal organisation on the ground and decided to create a radical stir by attacking the City of London as an “artificial structure”. We received an anguished letter from S W Alexander the distinguished financial journalist and editor of City Press, complaining that he and his colleagues in the City were probably the only Liberals in the constituency. Our final poll of 6.3% showed that he was probably correct, but at least we left our deposit behind with a certain fatal flair.

I am sympathetic to your point of view as my story shows – indeed I won the by-election against an independent who was the chair’s preferred candidate – I don’t know whether he was a Tory or not.

Equally I have known a parish council were essentially everyone was elected on a party political label and perhaps that was actually to its detriment. I have to say that I would have a little difficulty in pinpointing a precise Lib Dem viewpoint on the maintenance of street lights or provision of play equipment. But i believe that there can be and of course it is a question for the electorate.

A further downside of party political labels is that it is so often means that people vote on national lines rather than considering local issues.

My feeling is that masonic influences MAY be strong in some councils where everyone is elected on a party political label.

My understanding is that there were a lot more independents on local councils and over time that has been eroded. My understanding is that it is still quite strong in certain areas – Cornwall, West country, and may be parts of Wales and Scotland.

Most people who stand as independent will have voted in the General Election for one of the main political parties I am not sure one should force people to stand on that label if they don’t want to.

From my earliest time in politics I was taught to refer to independents as Condependants. Often individuals stand as independents because they haven’t a cat in hell’s chance of being elected as Tories. And of course these are the people who always refer to critical comments as being ‘political’.
Tony Greaves suggested to me that there are also some independents who he referred to as ‘bloody’ independents, but in my experience these are the minority.
Always stand under your party colours. To do otherwise is dishonest.

@Paul Barker surely rather than a committee of the GLA for the City given that almost as many ‘city jobs’ are surely now days located in Canary Wharf incorporating the City with the London Borough of Tower Hamlets…

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